With the board having shelved an unpopular tax increase option, the top suggestions by their budget workgroup would pull most or all of the $16 million from the district’s contingency fund — which it keeps at higher levels than required by the state.
Inching the fund down 2%, as recommended, would yield $14 million. But as CivicLex’s Adrian Bryant notes, the contingency fund isn’t just a piggy bank that’s always full.
“It’s not like August 15 hits, the school year starts, and boom, there’s $16 million that the district can run a check out of. That’s going to build over time,” he says. “So you can fill a deficit that way, but it’s not quite as clean-cut as it may sound as a recommendation.”…